The Great Indian Elections and the AAP Factor

Delhi elections are coming near. I don't know what the results will be but there are good chances of a great battle between the two political parties namely the Bhartiya Janta Party and the Aam Aadmi Party. We are the biggest democracy on this planet and we have evolved a lot in conducting elections. It is a very good thing for the democracy. Elections work as pressure releasing valves for the citizens. Most mornings start where news headlines annoy us due to the wrong doings of the Government. We get angry but continue drinking our tea and leave for work. When we come back home in the night, we feel good to see news anchors bashing the Government. Few days are good where we get to watch some Indian achievement in a specific field or we are busy catching sports or a movie but rest is the same. It remains exactly the same, it doesn't change. The frustration doesn't go it just stacks up in the background. The election day comes and we cast our vote and change the Government. The vicious cycle may start again but elections helps in relieving our frustration and anger each and every time. Every time we try to seek who have better plans and who is less tainted.

With the question of taints, the primary reason is still associated with corruption. Whenever we talk of corruption, we should understand the root cause of corruption in India. Our constitution was heavily inspired from British Constitution so is our Electoral System. So same set of rules were applied in our country but there remained a glitch which was the sheer size of India compared to Britain. In Britain, you don't need a very large amount of money to contest election. Constituencies are smaller compared to India. When we talk of India, the constituencies are too large and the limit for expenditure on election campaigns is very less. Currently it is 70 lakhs for bigger states and 40 lakhs for smaller states per constituency (for LokSabha elections). Lets first try to think if this amount's upper limit is enough. A small meeting of a thousand people will need a lakh rupees or more to be well-managed. Think as an entrepreneur and imagine how many rallies and road shows are done and how much would it be costing. To carry out the campaigning job, you will have to setup a team and pay them. The job is very extensive from designing, printing and sticking pamphlets to door-to-door visits stating the candidate's presence. The entire work will be carried out on rental vehicles which need fuel and you know how costly fuel is. Next, your staff needs coffee, drinking water and few other perks. Loudspeakers, Posters, Cut-out they all require money. And finally tons and tons of advertisements in every possible mass communication medium like Radio, TV, newspapers. Nowadays one more segment has added Social Media presence. The campaign requires all these activities to happen for maximum possible days to establish candidate's presence and convey his/her plans for the constituency. Try to sum up this expenditure into number of days. Do you think that you can do a campaign in 40 lakhs? Just check the rate of a newspaper front page advertisement and you will know this amount may be enough for few days or even less.

So we have a fundamental problem but how corruption is associated with it, is still not clear. Now suppose one needs to contest elections, what that person do ? That person will be taking undisclosed amount of money from several elements of the society. If that person gets elected then those elements will ask for favors in return. So, rules will be broken or bypassed to facilitate those elements. Next, you need money for next elections as well. So you will allow a nexus of corruption in the Government machinery so that money under the table flows freely in the system and you get your periodic share. The initial need soon becomes greed and you start hoarding more money and Government machinery gets more junked. So, you can understand, to contest an election independently in India you need to be rich person first. To establish a successful political party and run it for years, you require much more money. The undisclosed money contributes to the black money economy which runs in parallel to the white money economy in our nation.

Suppose we would have elected those people who can transparently state that who funded them and how much; Will things would be different in such a scenario ? Possibly, Yes. If that elected candidate tried to help those who funded him then they will come into the scanner sooner or later. Public can select such a candidate who can show his/her funding and have honest intentions. That person needs not to work for allocating funds for next term because for next election as well that candidate will ask for donation. Fair game. Is such a system works ? The biggest example is the oldest democracy, the United States. The election commission funds the candidate to a limit and for more expenses they have to get their funding though donations and other channels, every penny of which needs to be disclosed to the public. When Barack Obama contested elections, anyone who liked his ideas and want to contribute his campaign, was able to donate with as small amount as $1 through different medium like cheques, cash or online transfer. There were big funding from corporate giants but everything was made public. If we check the least corrupt nations list by Transparency International, United States stands at 17th position and India stands at 85th position. Though a time-bound and powerful judiciary is also responsible for United States' example but the electoral system is its solid foundation.

[ Transparency International Link ]

Lets come back to New Delhi. The emergence of Aam Aadmi Party happened on the premise of a anti-corruption movement. This party is less than 2 year old but has seen lot of up and downs and received an extreme mix of praise as well as criticism. This party showcases candidates from the public itself, these candidates are fueled by emotions and have done silly things in past and even supported silly policies few of which doesn't make sense. But there is one thing right, which no other party did and that thing is the transparent funding mechanism of this party. You get a receipt when you donate to AAP and this information is publicly available. This is a big factor which could change the mechanism of contesting elections in India and the tree of corruption can be weaken from roots and may be uprooted as well. We need parties which can show how much money they have and how they spend it and the sources from which they received it. Election Commission should raise the upper limit to many folds and if possible compel the parties to reveal their sponsors.

Is AAP doing everything right on the transparency perspective ?
Not totally. They have been served notice by the Election Commission on Nov 28, 2014 to file their Lok Sabha election expenditures. Usually it has to be done within 90 days of elections and AAP is yet to declare all the details to the Election Commission. BJP and Congress also have been sent the notice. In past few weeks they filed the expenditure. The BJP and Congress declared the expenditure to be Rs 714 crore and Rs 516 crore respectively in 2014 general elections and recent assembly polls in various states. How much money was spent is not the big question. The big question is what the sources of this money were.

[ a) EC's list of political parties with their expenditure : Link 
b) EC's Public Notice : Link ]
 
If AAP wins Delhi election then more parties will emerge with same funding mechanism. This will force the veteran parties to set up such a system. So, the whole politics can change. Another important thing is that an efficient system should be an equal set of checks and balances. If there is a powerful political force in the nation, there should be good counter intuitive force as well else anarchy will occur because power corrupts everyone, it's just a matter of time.

Advice to the Aam Aadmi Party :
- Try not to play blame games in campaign and tell more about your plans  & key ideas.
- If you can showcase the sources of your funds, please audit & file your expenditures as well.
- Don't forget the Lokpal
- Don't get much emotional and do silly stuff. Be rational.

Advice to Haters of Aam Aadmi Party :
- People do mistakes. We are not perfect.
- AAP intentions are still intact.
- Any day if you do a corruption check, AAP is way clearer than anyone
- Yes, they are amateurs but they respond to public and accept their mistakes. Let them learn.

Let's check the ground report. The BJP has roped Kiran Bedi as their face of Delhi Elections and she will most likely become Chief Minister if BJP wins. But why BJP needed Kiran Bedi is question we should ask because there was hardly any honest candidate in the Delhi team. She can be a good administrator and has a proven record of it but if the team consists of people indulged in corruption then even a good leader can't do much. BJP is ruling the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for past 7 years and have messed up the basic necessities of the public. Arvind Kejriwal is at times impractical but his intentions are earnest and he is one of the most honest people in Indian politics. He deserves a second chance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to understand the point that corruption is still a major issue in India and if he want to govern & develop the nation with the idea he portrays then he has to tight his party in terms of a transparent funding grounds sooner or later.

Political parties competing with each other, each coming with a cleaner ground and portraying plans and ideas of nation's development is what any successful democracy needs. Hope our country experience such a politics in future. The pathway to that future is long and full of difficulties but I am hopeful, we will reach that point eventually.

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Landslide for Modi and the road ahead

Finally a new Government has arrived, BJP led NDA has struck a landslide victory. A landslide winning in many many terms. It has been a remarkable day where people of India have not spoken but yelled out in support of Narendra Modi and have yelled the disapproval for Congress. The Congress have cut the cord of communication from public years ago and have failed to maintain a resonance with the Indian Youth. Now, Congress has been decimated and will probably may not score the official 54 seat figure mark and can face the ignominy of not being officially declared the Opposition Party.

Now what does it means is that after a long time India will have a very stable government. For a long time, India has seen only coalitions and we had assumed that we have moved to a coalition era where it will be very difficult for any single party to go pass the halfway mark in parliament. This time, the BJP has done it surprisingly. Everyone expected them to win but no one expected this margin of victory. A Government which is a single party government or even if it is a coalition where a single party has a single majority in parliament will behave very very differently from a coalition where the lead constituent is dependent on smaller allies to keep the government stable. And I think we are going to see a lot of that.

Earlier on yesterday, we saw Sensex hitting almost 25,000 mark. Later the market came down in the second half of the day, primarily because everyone have booked profits. But what financial analysts are predicting we are on the beginning of a secular bull run so we will see the market climbing steadily. Of course, it also means that we need to see significant improvement in some of the fundamentals but if you look at most emerging markets, they have done quite good this year at least for the first half of the year. India has been laggard as far as emerging markets are concerned. I think its no longer going to be a laggard. It may actually set a trend. At this moment if Rupee  appreciates then it means export can become less competitive. Rupee can turn stronger provided if we address lot of supply side issues, if we address issues related to manufacturing, we make sure that there is a sort of revival in manufacturing in export led businesses. And then you might not be competing on price, you will be competing on other factors though price will still be important. I think RBI has enough fire-power to make sure that Rupee doesn't go below 50 mark.  

I think we are going to see two broad aspect of changes. First will be administrative. I think the speed of the decision making will be much faster as you have a leader who does have a certain degree of certitude if you look at how he function as Chief Minister of Gujarat. He function with a certitude. If he brings that quality of certitude to the Prime Minister Office that will be mean faster decisions and more decisive actions by the Government. Though it is too early to forecast how Narendra Modi will function as the Prime Minister of India. The second thing would be that a sense of hope will come in the nation right now based on NDA Government's last report card. The Vajpayee Government of 1999-2004 was a very reformist Government. They did lot of interesting things Dis-investing was one significant thing. The Telecom Revolution really took off when these guys were in charge. So, we might see lot of these things during this tenure as well. I am eager to see how the different portfolio In-charges will be selected. It would be encouraging to see if non-political candidates are opted for some key positions like Finance or Railways. Well, time will tell what is in store for the nation but anyway this is a hopeful time for the nation.

                       

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Presidential Election Drama

 
Last week's political events makes one think how the politics of India has sunken to its nadir over the manipulation and deal-making over a position which is not so-political, the highest office : The President of India. The respect and stature associated with this position demands that neither this position should be assigned to highly political persona nor the election process for this position should be utilized for politics playing. Gracefully, this position should be assigned to a non-political person who is loved by India.

Current Scenario
The suspense has moreover finished. Pranab Mukherjee seems certain to become the next President. The UPA coalition lacks the exact number right now but the backing of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati together with the unwillingness of A.P.J Abdul to contest for the President ensures that it's going to be a Pranab Moment.

Candidature
In the times of cynicism and dirty politics, this ceremonial position needs  a candidate who understands the deep political roots and draws respect from widest sections of our politics and society. This is going to be the essence of the 13th  President's five years so important. As a candidate Pranab Mukherjee's resume is worthy of the job. Four successful and eventful decades in public life gives him an unmatched experience than any other. He has played the role of chief troubleshooter for his party on national and state level. He can definitely be a good president.

In case if Mr. Kalam contests, he will have a strong competition due to the number game primarily. Mr. Kalam was never a political figure but he learned it quickly. He was a good president at a critical period of time and stood against Government, Parliament and even Judiciary to stop bad policies. I wish he had expressed his willingness to contest but even though if he had it would have been just nomination filing due to less numbers.  


  
Unfinished Business in Post Pranab Case
 As it is likely, Pranab Mukherjee will be the next President, the major issue arises that who will become the next Finance Minister and how the unfinished business of getting the country out of economic mess will be done and by whom ? Who is going to complete the unfinished business that Pranab Mukherjee has left.
The primary challenges for the Mukherjee's successor has :

• Cutting subsidies to reduce expenditure
• Insurance and Pension reforms
• Speeding up the Tax reforms through Goods and Service Tax (GST) and the Direct Taxes Code (DTC)
• Pushing a quick-start to FDI reform to bring in hard currencies
• Getting the infrastructure spending to deliver the goods
• Issuing the new Bank Licenses

 Currently, the position of Finance Minister is a position of great responsibility and job that needs nerves of steel to handle the situation. Hoping the fine tuning job goes in a responsible hands and India's economy situation improves gradually.   

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The FDI Retail Musings

FDI in Retail has been put on hold but it has triggered a fierce debate with wildly opposing claims. This is somewhat ironic given that every argument that is made for and against it can be tested against the current Indian Big Retails.

  

Argument 1: Have Big Retails Worked in India till date

When India’s first modern retail stores opened for starting business 15 years ago it triggered breathless headlines but today the organized retail is a tiny fragment of the Indian Retail Market. Most big players are struggling to break even. Reliance the biggest player in modern retail in India has posted a net loss of Rs. 44 crore. As for Big Bazaar, the next largest chain; its parent company has debt in their record books of around Rs 4352 crore. The Shoppers Stop chain of stores posted a net loss of Rs 1.5 crore this past year. Aditya Birla Retail with its chain of More grocery stores is still loss making and looking for investors. Some like Subhiksha which at one time had more than 1600 stores has  shut down all together. India’s oldest modern retail stores Spencer has posted a Rs 170 crore loss in this financial year. So India is one of the few countries in which Indian big retailers actually want their foreign rivals to come in. They claim, it will bring more funds. Experts say this is an indirect way of saying that the Global Big Boys will buyout few of the struggling Indian Retail companies. Now the question remains even if the Big Boys buyout or partner Indian retailers, can the WallMart and Carrefour do better. Some say they can because they are fully experienced in retail unlike Indian companies like Reliance, Birlas who don’t have that experience. But others argue that there are challenges unique to the Indian Market which will be applied to all players regardless of nationality and experience. The single biggest challenge for any retailer of any size or scale is how do they are going to find affordable real state for retailing operations. Most parts of India don’t have just enough space to start with and whatever limited space is available, the pricing of that land make it very difficult out of the retail business. So the Government's figure of Foreign Investors waiting to invest $ 600 billion becomes somewhat unrealistic. If we look at the record of the overall record of the FDI in India, whichever sector we opened to overseas investors the results aren’t success stories. Our infrastructure sector is opened for foreign investment from quite some time, so is our Power sector but we haven’t seen a stampede of investors coming into India because merely allowing them to invest in India is just a starting point.

Argument 2: Will small traders go out of Business?

The loudest most vocal opponents of FDI in retail are small traders who say they will go bust. They staged a violent protest when the first Indian retail chain opened. In reality, there is no comprehensive study so far that maps the impact on small retailers after the entry of big retails. In the first week of this very month NDTV conducted a straw poll. The team of correspondents in four metro cities talked to local shopkeepers to know if their business was impacted after the entry of big corporate retailers in their neighborhood. The result showed that most of the shopkeepers were unruffled. They say the impact on their business is so little that it is pretty marginal. Their loyal customers are still with them.

Quite apart from anecdotal evidence if any empirical proof is needed for the innovativeness and resilience of the small traders, it’s in the Government own figures which finds that the growth of organized retail has dipped from 27% in 2005 to 15% in 2009.

 While unorganized retail has maintained a steady growth of 15% from 2005 to 2009.

This calls into question of the logic of Government’s glowing prospect of the big retails in India as well as the logic of small traders who claim that they gonna be wiped out of the business. The bottom line is that Retail in India is a complex fragmented mosaic made up of pavement vendors, kirana stores, Government stores, Cooperative networks etc. Organized networks have so far remained just one small part of that mosaic.  

 

Argument 3: Will big retail modernize agriculture process

The Big Retailers have made farmer’s collection center near the farmlands in rural areas where they can purchase the produce directly from the farmers. In past the farmers used to bring their produce to Mandi and most Indian retailers would buy from there. But now Bharati, Big Baazar, Reliance Fresh, have setup centers to source directly from farmers after taking permissions from Mandis. The farmers say they have to travel less and get a price which is close to the Mandi price. The farmer may get a same price at Mandi as compared to say Big Bazaar but  he has to pay to commission agent and also for transport. In Delhi’s Azadpur’s Mandi for instance a kilo of Gobhi(Cauliflower) is priced Rs 6.75 per kilo and the farmers pays a commission of Rs 0.40 per kilo and transport cost of Rs 3 per kilo, So he only makes a Rs 3.35 per kilo. Many of the times the farmers produce get wasted due to lack of storage amenities. On other hand at the Big Bazaar collection center farmers get tips on how to save the produce from wastage. Big Retailers says they have killed the middleman by employing local villagers for the centers who contact farmers. But this is tough going baring a few states, India’s agricultural land holding are too fragmented to let the big retailers get contract of large supplies with individual farmers. [Average landholding in India is 0.67 acres ]. So the big retailers do informal agreements with large grouping of farmers. Overall even those who are wary of the entry of multinationals into sensitive areas like food say that the entry of organized retails might have some benefits with conditions.

Economist Sudha Narayan says “Wherever there is contestability where farmers have more alternatives that will empower them ultimately. On other hand the contestability not necessarily should come from FDI retailers; it can come from Mandis, domestic players, domestic processors. So there is nothing unique about the FDI which can make the market contestable.” [ In reference links at the bottom you can check a paper submitted at Cornell University by Sudha Narayan regarding Agro Retail in India]

Definitely agricultural reforms is the responsibility of the Government and by overstating the benefits of the big retails, the Government is trying to shift their responsibility of reforms to a third party. Of the 180 million tons of fruits and vegetables that India produces, almost a third of it is wasted because the Government says existing cold storage has only capacity of 20 million tons. This is where they believe the multinational retails can come and rescue with money and technology. But will Multinational retails will be able to bridge this gap ? Learning from past, we know when Government opened FDI in cold storage chains, nobody invested. Indian retailers say even if the MNCs are allowed to sell it is unlikely they build such a massive storage backend. Definitely they will either force the Government to build the storage backend or in worst possible scenario will get it done by some other body but they will try to make it happened. Technology isn’t a rocket science anybody can import it, it’s just there is no enough money. Even if they build cold storages it isn’t clear if the Indian consumers are ready to pay more. 

Argument 4 : Inflation control by Retail

Initially Government wanted to come up with FDI retail the focus was the benefits to the farmers but with the price rise turning up the political heat, the Government began to argue that  FDI Retail will check inflation. It’s true that stores like Big Bazaar will advertise cheaper prices for certain food and products but across the board if you do a quick test of prices of organized retailers vs street retailers, the difference is marginal. All of which questions the Government’s logic that Big Retails will control inflation. For that, most Retailer will have to become big enough what Economists called "Economies of Scale" to reduce prices but as far as we have seen, organized retail is tough, expensive and it will take a long while before we will have Wallmart like stores where everything is cheaper than rest of the market.

 Argument 5: Alternative to Retails

Reading through the reports by Government or by Corporate Chambers that sell the Retail story of India there is little mentioning of how the grass root networks have evolved through which Indians buy and sell as well as the success stories within those like that of AMUL which is an example of successful rural marketing from front-end to back-end with zero foreign investment or technology. AMUL collects milk twice in a day from over 3 million farmers with the help of 16,000 village cooperative societies. AMUL even argues that the model they have created is even better structured than any model in the West. Also, the India’s largest network of retailers, The Invisible Street Vendors who after years are finally getting organized by Nation Association of Street Vendors of India. A central law for Street Vendors is also going to be discussed in future parliamentary sessions to improve this model's growth.   

    

As the Government attempts a second round of building consensus on FDI in Retail, it should be well foreground not just for the top end of retail chain but for the bottom of the pyramid as well which will give greater legitimacy that it can act in the interest of majority of Indians. 

References :

The Great Indian Retail Story - An Ernst & Young Report, 2007 

Paper submitted by Economist Sudha Narayan

2011 Retail Reform Commentary: Expected impact of FDI in Retail – Ernst & Young India Viewpoint 

The Economist December 2011 issue - Reform in India: Let Walmart in

An article from Hindu on FDI Retail

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छठ का त्योहार

 भारत में जलाशयों के किनारों का सरोकार कई त्योहारों से जुड़ा हुआ है | मुहूर्त स्नान, मूर्ति विसर्जन जैसे अवसरों पर इन जलाशयों ने धार्मिक क्रियाकलापों में अह्म भूमिका निभाई है | ऐसा ही पर्व है छठ का त्योहार जिससे इन जलाशयों की रौनक और बढ़ी है | पिछले कई सालों से इस रौनक में इजाफ़ा हुआ है | कल बीती हुई शाम और आज सुबह, उत्तर भारत में जहाँ भी जलाशय हैं ; छोटा सा तालाब, झील, पोखर, नदी हैं वहाँ बहुत बड़ी तादाद में सूरज को नमन करते हुए लोग दिखे | यह छठ का त्योहार है जिसे बिहार और भारत के पूर्वी प्रान्त में बड़ी धूम धाम के साथ मनाया जाता है |  दुनिया सिर्फ उगते हुए सूरज को सलाम करती है वहीँ छठ पूजा डूबते हुए सूरज और उगते हुए सूरज दोनों को सलाम करती है |  

दरअसल जिसे हम अक्टूबर और नवम्बर के नाम से पहचानने के आदि हैं, बरसात बाद के वो महीने मन और मौसम दोनों  लिहाज़ से उल्लास के होते हैं | गर्मी बीत चुकी होती है, सर्दी की खुनक आ रही होती है | घर आँगन खेत और खलिहान, धान, दाल और गन्ने से भरे होते हैं | ऐसे में ये अन्न का भी त्योहार है, जल का भी और रोशनी का भी | ऐसा त्योहार जो घर बैठ कर नहीं होता, मिल जुलकर सभ्यता के छोटे छोटे घाटों पे होता है | शुरुआत दो दिन पहले खड़ना से होती है, इस दिन घरों में खीर बनती है और पूरा महोल्ला बिना किसी न्यौते के इसमें हिस्सा बटाता है | फिर ठेकुए का ख़ास प्रसाद बनता है, जो छठ की अलग पहचान है | दूसरा दिन डूबते हुए सूरज का होता है और तीसरी सुबह सर्दियों का आगाज़ करती है, दिवाली के बचे हुए पटाखे जलाये जाते हैं और साफ़-समतल किये गए जलाशयों के जगमाते घाट रौनक बढ़ाते हैं |  इन सबको जोड़ते हैं, छठ के वो गीत जिनकी अपनी ही लय होती है |   

   बीस साल पहले तक यह त्योहार सिर्फ बिहार और झारखण्ड तक सिमटा हुआ था लेकिन अब दिल्ली, मुंबई और उत्तर प्रदेश में भी छठ मनाया जाता है | दरअसल इन बीस सालों में झारखण्ड और बिहार छोड़ कर लोगों ने देश के दूसरे हिस्सों में घर बनाये हैं, जहाँ गए वहाँ अपने तीज़-त्योहार ले गए और यह प्रक्रिया दोतरफ़ा रहीं है | गुजरात के नवरात्रों के गरबे अब भारत के दूसरे प्रान्तों में भी दिखने लगे हैं, करवा-चौथ सिर्फ दिल्ली और पंजाब का त्योहार नहीं रह गया है अब उसकी एक अखिल भारतीय पहचान है और गणेश चतुर्थी सिर्फ महाराष्ट्र तक सीमित नहीं है | छठ भी इसी सांस्कृतिक लेनदेन का हिस्सा है जिससे कभी कभार कुंठा की मारे, ठाकरे जैसे कुटुंब समझ नहीं पाते | सभी को इस पावन पर्व की शुभकामनाएं |    

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Saddest Dusherra Morning

As you have likely heard, computing genius and visionary tech pioneer Steve Jobs passes away today after a battle with cancer. He died peacefully at home surrounded by his family. Everybody is heavily touched by the man who created the iMac, iTunes, iPhones and the iPad unsure how to honor his legacy. He will be always considered as an irascible and extraordinary impresario who led to the paradigm shift in computer industry. The transformation that took from metal box minicomputers and IBM PCs into sleek shaped Macintosh, iPhone and iPad. His vision was to use the power of complex computing to create extremely user friendly and fun to use devices for the planet. If he would have lived a decade more , no doubt you would have seen a device named as iWatch or iMirror redefining a whole experience what his “i” does to an ordinary thing. Steve Jobs was the man who will be remembered for putting the benchmarks. He was the initiators of several technologies and it drove the copycats to invent cheaper devices. He signifies the spirit of fighting back whether it was making presence felt in boardroom, captivating the ever competitive market or fighting with cancer. 

His style will remain iconic representing a guy who used to come year after year in his trademark turtle neck black t-shirt and denims with eye catching gadgets to redefine what user experience was before that and setting high bars for the peers to work harder if you want to come close to him. His presentation style in keynotes became a learning lesson for management graduates and industry veterans of delivering a presentation. Most presenters convey information while Steve used to inspire in his presentations. He not used to sell gadgets but he sold experiences to user which separates him from the other inventors. He quoted “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” and he meant it. This can be seen in his innovations or in his presentations. India never achieved the status of being the territory of the Apple’s Empire but his mere presence at US induced similar Asian products in Indian market. So, he had a strong impact. From now on he will be missed in Apple Conference’s Keynotes. He will be missed for being there as a person leading the technological transition of this era. Leaving you with few of the quotes and his legendary speech at the Stanford in 2005. May his soul rest in peace.

"Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations."

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”

“My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better.”

“We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.”

“We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and everyone should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? And we’ve all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good. It better be worth it.”

“Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Youtube clip of Steve's speech at Stanford in 2005

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Save Indian Hockey

There is a little confusion regarding the earning of sportsmen in different Indian Sports. Everybody points at the money received by Cricketers but they ignore the fact the Indian Government never rewards Cricketers but they are rewarded by BCCI. BCCI never takes money from the Government, rather arranges the money by its own. So, yesterday when Hockey players were upset regarding the prize money of 25000 there shouldn’t be any surprise. Wouldn’t it be better if Hockey players and lovers give more emphasis and demanding for structural changes on the Hockey Federation so that it becomes functionally independent like BCCI and is able to promote Hockey to such level that eventually the mass viewership doesn’t remain concentrated with Cricket because Cricket is not our National Game, Hockey is.

Dhanraj Pillay who left Hockey long ago still has a heart which beats for Hockey. He became upset when Indian Hockey Team which arrived yesterday from China after defeating Pakistan to lift the Asian Champions Trophy was rewarded with prize money of 25 thousand rupees.  Well, everybody is upset. Sports Minister Ajay Makhan tweeted first about the prize money. He also mentioned Government spent 7.81 crore rupees on Hockey Team in last 6 months alone,5.97crore rupees for National Coaching camps, 1.75 crore rupees for  Foreign Visits and 8.75 lakh rupees on foreign experts. He wanted to mention that Government is spending a huge amount on Hockey. The Upset environment led to media questioning about the prize money which looks more like a charity donation. Checking this scenario, Punjab Government announced a prize amount of 25 lakh rupees. It is also not a large amount of money. Hockey players and other team members will receive an amount of around 1 lakh rupees and this decision not seems to be taken for rectification but rather politically inspired. It is true that if Cricket Team wins then Rewards starts raining from all sides. The rewards are so large that it becomes unmanageable. But it is also the fact the Cricketers are never awarded by Sports Ministry but by BCCI. Rewards are given to them different levels: National, State, District. Public and Private sectors start competing for being a bigger reward giver to Indian Cricket Team. Yuvraj Singh received 6 crore rupees for hitting 6 sixers in an over while same day a BSF soldier died while fighting terrorists and was given few lakhs of rupees which states a shameful truth that playing Cricket for India does make more money than dying to save this country. In a similar manner Hockey has also become a victim of negligence which happens to be our National Game. Hockey Players are not wage paid mercenaries who will not play for the country if they aren’t rewarded but when it comes to the pride of nation then keeping Hockey is lime light and when it comes to Money then pushing Cricket miles forward somewhere frustrates the sportsmen of other games. This frustration is genuine because Hockey Players are employed at lower ranks in Railways or Banks. Small rewards are given to them but at least they should be rewarded with honor. Cricket is undoubtedly more popular than Hockey; greater spectators support, greater number of sponsors and greater revenue. The same is not true with Hockey. Neither is it blessed with houseful stadiums nor handsome revenue. How can then Hockey players are rewarded with the rewards they really deserve.  Government should make the Hockey Federation more responsible and professional and powerful so that the Federation can arrange sponsors by their own and definitely money will come. Hockey is our National Game and has graced the nation with multiple Olympic Gold Medals in past. It is not enough to just display Hockey as a prestigious trophy of past. Whether it is Cricket or Hockey or any other sports, all players are young, are of similar age group, all want to earn respect and money so that they can afford better life.  A small effort of honest professionalism and we might see the state of Hockey in no miserable condition. I hope we can expect at least such will from the Government if we really want to save it. Hoping my wish will come true.  

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